Tasogare
by DarkNexus
Summary: A young boy who wanted only to live his life in peace finds himself shouldered with a dangerous power and a world-shaking mission. can he succeed with the help of his friends?
1. Twilight: a new Dawn, or a coming Dusk?

DN: yo, everyone, Im splitting my time between Hagakure and this new project, so hopefully you all like this newest crossover, the world of "The World" from the .hack series, and Naruto.

Disclaimer: As usual I do not own any of the source anime games manga etc. that are included in this crossover.

**-)::(- Twilight: a new Dawn, or a coming Dusk?**

"_Take this... Please take this... _

_The power it holds can bring forth either... _

_Salvation... or... Destruction, _

_at the whim of the user" - Aura_

Uzumaki Naruto woke, as he had done many time before in the bustling river city of Mac Anu, to the sounds of the morning Protector patrols leaving for their respective fields. As was his usual routine the young man trudged to his small bathroom in his tiny flat to wash up for the day. His sight blurry with sleep, he blearily scrubbed his face trying to remove the strange stains on his cheeks. He stopped as his sight focused on the strange red marks, and then he screamed. Naruto stared at the face in the mirror in fear and shock, on his cheeks, clear and bright, was a wave crest, the mark of the world's elite warriors, the protectors. He tried to make sense of things with little success; he could not recall agreeing to be a protector despite his friend Sasuke's insistence. Had the Teme come in at night and tattoo'd him? Naruto shook his head in dismissal, that wasn't the Teme's style.

"Crap... I need to figure this out before Kakashi gets here..." the blonde boy groaned.

"Hmmn? Figure what out before I get here?" a cool voice called out from the living area beyond the bath's door.

Naruto jumped and slammed himself into the wall in surprise "EEEEH!" he quickly composed himself and took one last look in the mirror before realizing that perhaps it was best to get answers with the help of a veteran protector like Kakashi, after all the man had been trained by Naruto's father, so the boy knew the sliver haired man was at least trustworthy.

With a resigned sigh he stepped out into his main living area and addressed the elder man, "Neh Kakashi-nii, I woke up with these on my face, did Sasuke-teme tattoo me in my sleep?"

Kakashi stared at the wave marks on the boy for several moments before answering. "Naruto, wave crests are not tattoos."

the boy stared at his teacher in confusion, not tattoos? "eh? then how do you explain the red triangles? I know I didn't put them there, Kakashi-nii"

Kakashi frowned, it was a very good question, and one he wasn't all that well qualified to answer. The boy had not undergone the ritual of binding as far as he could recall, and the boy had also stated many times he would much rather pursue a future as the village head, a position that although important, was rarely filled by wave users. Naruto's father Minato had been a notable exception, becoming Mac Anu's leader shortly before the incident with the mysterious monster attacks 15 years ago. Returning his thoughts to the still frantic young boy desperately trying to get answers for the strange marks on his cheeks, he gave what answers he could.

"Well, Naruto, the marks are a physical sign of the connection between a wave user and his wave spirit. So, the best I can guess, is that a wave spirit attached itself to you in your sleep. Before the ritual of binding, that was how a lot of wave users got their powers." Kakashi pulled out his trusty icha-icha novel and stood up "But, that type of thing is rare today, so I think we should see Sarutobi-sama at the wave temple and see if we can't figure out what kind of spirit you have bound to you."

Naruto scratched his cheek in confusion "Hey, Kakashi-nii, when you say bound to me, what does that mean anyway?"

the one-eyed man smiled at Naruto "It would be easier to explain it at the Wave Shrine. So why don't we go there now, ok?"

Naruto seemed to become slightly nervous at the mention of the Wave Shrine, fidgeting with his clothing as he stared at the ground. "Uh... im not allowed back in there after I pranked the priests with a smoke bomb filled offering"

Kakashi gave a sigh and gently placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Trust me Naruto, they will make an exception."

Naruto nodded nervously and followed Kakashi into the streets of Mac Anu. Trying to make small talk, Naruto began to ramble questions to the older man.

"Ne, Kakashi-nii, what was with all the patrols this morning, it was a lot more than the old man normally sends. What gives?"

Kakashi flipped a page in his book before answering, whether as a way to hide gathering his thoughts or from boredom, Naruto could not guess.

"The patrols were a response to increased monster attacks in certain usually safe fields. There are rumors that the eight beasts from fifteen years ago are behind it, so Satutobi-sama has increased the patrols in and out of the city to compensate. Further, the city is invoking a draft, pulling you young people who have so far refused to undergo a binding in to the shrine to take part in the ceremony. From what I heard from Asuma, Kurenai had to take Hinata in for the ritual, even though normally she would be considered too timid for the position." he stopped and looked back at the young blonde who seemed lost in thought from the news, "As you may have guessed, Naruto, I was supposed to bring you here to undergo the binding yourself. I guess its just my luck I'm somehow late even for that, I mean, what are the odds of you gaining a spirit on your own. At any-rate, we are here"

Naruto stared at the stone building in front of them. It was not his first time seeing the wave shrine, but he had never really paid attention to it before now. The structure was unassuming, only a single story tall with a simple oaken door marked with an odd leaf like symbol on it.

"Ne, Kakashi-nii, what symbol is that?"

Kakashi looked at the symbol marked in the door and smiled. "That, Naruto, was the personal glyph of a very powerful warrior from long ago. Since he was from Mac Anu, the city marked the shrine with it."

Naruto nodded and glanced back at his caretaker, "Are you sure we have to go in here?"

Kakashi nodded and guided him inside. "Yes, we do. After all its here that protectors are given the spirits that will aid them in their fights against the creatures of the cursed wave."

Naruto stared wide eyed at the chamber they had entered. All around him the walls glowed with the glyphs of different wave tribes. A barely audible hum throbbed through the room making him feel as if he were in the belly of some beast. He stopped as he felt certain he could hear a voice on the edge of his thoughts, but it was feint and he could not make it out. Then he realized the odd guttural voice on the edge of his thoughts was being answered by a choir of voices coming from the glyphs on the wall.

"Eh? They talk?"

Kakashi gave a nod as he pointed to the shrines many glyphs. "Yes, the glyphs represent the essence of the wave spirits that seek to aid us. you see Naruto, whenever someone becomes a Protector they bind themselves to one of the nature spirits of the world. some of us even go by that spirit's name from time to time. myself for example am sometimes called 'Sanjuro' and as another example Kurenai often goes by 'Mistral'."

he sweeps his hand to the different runes as he continues. "Earth, Wood, Fire, Water, Lightning, and Darkness. a spirit can be from any one of those tribes. and the Wave mark you get is dependent upon the type of spirit that binds to you."

Naruto frowned and pointed to his cheeks were the red wave crests sat "but Sensei... my wave crest doesn't match any of them."

Kakashi frowned, the young son of the late hero of Mac Anu was right of course; the triangular red wave crests were unique, unlike any he had seen in the Wave Shrine. however, he had seen the glyph elsewhere, which was why they were here; to ask elder Sarutobi, why a boy, who had never undergone a binding, possessed the Wave Crest of the Twilight Dragon.

"No, it doesn't... and that's why we came here. If it were a normal wave crest I would have just started training you. But that mark... Its something of a legend, Naruto."

Naruto opened his mouth the respond, but he stopped short as a voice cut through his thoughts.

"_Help... please... use it... please... he is coming..."_

"Ah! Kakashi-nii! Did you hear that?"

Kakashi looked at the boy in surprise "Hear what?"

Naruto shook his head to clear it, "A voice, it sounded like a girl... she was calling out for help. I couldn't catch all the words. But she said 'he is coming'"

from behind them, the voice of an old man casually enters the conversation, "Hearing voices now are we, Naruto?"

Naruto spun to face the new voice in excitement, "Ah! Ji-san! Don't make fun of me, I really heard it."

Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled at the boy before noticing the red marks on his cheeks and turned to look at Kakashi with a worried expression, "tell me the boy has gotten a tattoo, Kakashi."

the protector shook his head no "Its a wave crest, Sarutobi-sama. He says it appeared this morning. It looks to me like..."

Sarutobi cut Kakashi off, a frown on the old man's face, "Yes, there is no question about it. Its _that creature's_ mark."

Naruto's thoughts drifted as he listened to the two older men talk. But he soon noticed a cold whispering at the edges of his thoughts again, not the girl, but the first voice he had heard, clearer this time, and agitated.

"_**Boy... can you hear me?"**_

Naruto blinked and the world around him faded away replaced with a dark empty void and the echoing voice.

"_**Boy... do you hear me?"**_

he turned looking for any sign of Kakashi or Sarutobi, but could see nothing in the vast expanse of darkness. He shuddered as a feeling of being watched settled upon him.

"_**BOY! CAN YOU HEAR ME!"**_

Naruto recoiled in fear and called back, if only to appease this faceless monster, "I can hear you... who are you?"

"_**I am your partner... I am your Shadow."**_

Naruto frowned, so this was the wave spirit, it sounded a lot meaner that what he had heard of from Kakashi, or Sasuke. But, Naruto reasoned, it couldn't hurt him right? So mustering some bravado he challenged the voice in response. "So you are the freeloader that moved into my body last night." the response, was not what he had expected.

"_**Last night? FOOL! … I have always been your shadow. We are one, you and I ... the Kaitou, and his keeper" **_

Naruto's stomach lurched as the world spun and his vision cleared to show Sarutobi and Kakashi hovering over him in concern. He realized he was laying on his back in what appeared to be a small office that lay of to the side in the shrine building. He stared at the two for a few moments in confusion before Sarutobi spoke.

"Naruto, are you alright? You've been out for thirteen hours." The elder seemed greatly distressed and it took a few moments for the severity of his statement to sink in to the boy.

"What? Thirteen hours? but I was only speaking to him for a few minutes. At least that's what it seemed like."

Kakashi's eyes widened, "I assume you mean the wave spirit. Did it tell you its name?"

naruto shook his head, "No, but it gave a title... the Kaitou."

Sarutobi frowned and lay a hand on Naruto. "Naruto, its getting late, why don't you go home for the day and you can join your friend Sasuke and Kakashi here on a patrol to learn how to be a protector."

Naruto nodded and walked out, his head swimming from the strange feeling the voice gave him. Like it was a great beast in a cage that could only barely contain its wrath.

Once Naruto had left Kakashi turned to his leader with a look of nervous confusion, "Sarutobi-sama, are you sure its wise to send him out with veteran protectors for his training run? Wouldn't Asuma or Kurenai be better suited for that?"

Sarutobi gazed at the younger man for a while before slowly taking a draw from his pipe, "Kakashi, you may not remember, but during the months leading to Naruto's birth there were several unusual events that occurred in the fields around Dun Loriag. Several of our Guardians were found unconscious with no apparent injuries. further, in the days leading up to Naruto's Birth, at least eight different creatures of unknown origin appeared across the world, ravaging the landscape and destroying our defenses. and then to make matters worse one of those creatures tried to breach the lair of the Twilight Dragon... and awoke the dragon's Guardian."

Kakashi paled and gasped in fear "It woke Cubia?"

the elder took a slow draw on his pipe and nodded, his eyes dark "Yes, and just as the epitaph states, Cubia had no care for sides or right or wrong, once awoken he attacked everything in sight. your Sensei Minato risked his life to use the ritual of binding to do something no one had ever even attempted."

the silver haired jonin stared, the roof of his mouth dry in fear. "you mean he..."

"Aa, he bound Cubia to young Naruto, at first, no wave crest appeared, so we assumed Cubia had been put back to sleep. However, if Cubia has now marked Naruto..." the old man paused.

"Sarutobi-sama?" Kakashi seemed to fidget, unsure what to do.

"Kaitou means _Shadow Thief _in the old tongue, the fact that Cubia used that to describe itself... Take him to Hulle Granz, Kakashi, we will see what the high priests have to say, perhaps this is the goddess at work" Sarutobi calmly ordered as he emptied his pipe.

Kakashi bowed, "Hai, Sandaime-Sama"

Meanwhile Naruto frowned as he walked back from the temple alone, his Sensei having stayed to discuss what the appearance of the dragon's crest meant with the elder. he had never even wanted to be a protector, and now he apparently had a spirit freeloading in him without so much as a hello. he paused as he saw one of Mac Anu's many training rings was still being used even in the dark evening hours. a young girl, with short cropped hair was panting in exhaustion as she leaned on a giant zweihander, while Kurenai stood near by leaning on a gold wavemaster's staff. curiosity getting the better of him, he crept closer.

"Ok, 'Blackrose', one more time, and try and feel the lightning spirit's energy flowing through you." the black haired girl nodded raising her sword over her head and focusing. Naruto's eyes widened as her smooth hair began to go jagged as if effected by static. the girl swung the sword down in a summersalt as she yelled, "Death Bringer!"

the girls hair now glowed almost white from channeling the energy of her wave spirit as she turned to see a shadowy figure at the edge of the training ring. shouldering the blade she gestured to the observer, who was of course poor Naruto and called out in agitation to him. "Oi! its rude to stare you know!"

Naruto jumped and stepped forward bowing profusely "ah! sorry! its just that you looked so cool!"

the girl stopped short, her hair falling limp and fading back to black with a burst of static as she went wide eyed "Na-naruto kun?" realizing what she had just said to her crush was to much, and Hinata soon blacked out from embarrassment.

"Eh? it was Hinata-chan? Oi! is she ok, Kurenai-sensei?"

Kurenai smiled and shook her head "She'll be alright, she just needs rest. controlling a wave spirit is difficult at first. keep that in mind, ok?"

Naruto nodded and turned to leave his own thought now even more turbulent 'difficult to control... ah man... just my luck.'

deep within him the voice pondered the boy's fate, seemingly knowing what awaited them.

"_**What will you do, boy, when we face the truth at the cathedral? Who will you side with … The Mother... or the Daughter?"**_

**-)::(- Chapter end**

**DN:** well, there it is, hope you guys like how this is going,

Naruto: "Next time on Tasogare! Stolen lives in the Cathedral of Dreams!"


	2. Stolen Souls in the Temple of Dreams

DN: here is chapter 2, of Tasogare (that's "Twilight" for those who dont know) and the situation surounding Naruto begins to escalate.

**-)::(- Stolen Souls in the Temple of Dreams -)::(-**

The next morning arrived all to early for the young Naruto, and he awoke to find Sasuke leaning against the wall eying him with a smirk.

"Eh? Teme? What are you doing here?"

Sasuke tossed a bag at Naruto and turned to leave the room, "Sanjuro told me to get you used to your new role as a protector while he prepares everything for later today, apparently we are going to visit the Cathedral because of your mystery wave spirit. The bag is a basic supply pack, get dressed and then we will head down to the Armory to figure out what kind of fighting style your spirit prefers. Knowing you, it won't be a spellcaster. Oh and you're a protector now, so while we're on duty my name is 'Orca', got it?"

Naruto nodded dumbly and managed to get dressed in the simple green attire the pack provided relatively quickly. Looking at the marks on his cheeks for a while in the mirror, he could feel the compressed presence of "Kaitou" in him. Shaking his head he joined Sasuke in his Flat's living area. "Oi, how did you get in my room anyway, Teme!"

Sasuke waves a key-ring in the air from his place on Naruto's couch, "Kakashi gave me his keys to your appartment, and its not like your bedroom has a lock on it Dobe."

Naruto balled his hand up into a fist and took a step towards Sasuke, but both stopped suddenly when a strange Tone echoed through the flat. Naruto's head whipped back and forth in confusion, but Sasuke's eyes had narrowed in thought. "A in C major... so your spirit is connected to the Goddesses."

Naruto stared at Sasuke, "Eh?"

Sasuke stood and moved towards the door, "Its not important right now, lets go."

Naruto moved to follow, an annoyed expression on his face, "Oi, wait up Sasuke!"

Sasuke turned to glare at him, "Dobe! I told you not to call me that, Its Orca!"

-)::(-

when they Arrived at the Armory half an hour later, Naruto could only stare at the wide assortment of weapons before him, swords, daggers, spears, axes, and the like all glittered before him. Sasuke meanwhile had moved further into the store seemingly searching for someone.

"Alkaid, you here?" Sasuke called out, leaning around the shop's counter to try and peer into the back room.

A female voice echoed from beyond the doorway in response, "That you Orca? Ill be right with you. Just taking care of a problem item."

Sasuke turned to face his friend only to find him looking at a black bound book marked with an odd symbol. The young blademaster's eyes widened in amusement and surprise, he had not expected Naruto to show any interest in tomes, something only offense oriented wavemasters wielded. Shaking his head he turned back to wait for Alkaid to finish her task and help them, leaving his friend to ponder the book alone.

Naruto stared at the book in mild interest, more attracted to the odd symbol on its cover than anything else, it seemed to him to be vaguely familiar, as if he had seen it in his dreams or something along those lines. He blinked in surprise when he heard a voice in his head; not his wave spirit, but the girl from the day before.

"_Take this."_

Naruto blinked in surprise, "wh-what?"

"_please take this."_

Naruto stared at it in confusion, "What is it?"

"_a great force. The power it holds can bring forth either... salvation... or destruction... at the whim of the user."_

Naruto blinked back to real world at the sound of Sasuke's voice. "Oi! Naruto! Alkaid is ready, since you don't have that tome anymore, did you see anything else you might want?"

Naruto looked back to his hands to find the strange tome had vanished, no sign of its presence anywhere in the immediate area. He shrugged it off and noticed a pair of simple daggers hanging from equally simple leather holsters slung from a peg on the wall. Now that, he mused, was a weapon he could get behind. Small, fast, and maneuverable, they sang to his prankster heart. He had to have them.

"How about these?" he grabbed the kit and spun around to see the face of another teen from his group of friends smiling at him behind the counter. "eh? Ten-ten?"

Ten-ten smiled at him in bemusement as she took the twin-blade starter weapons and set them aside. "heh nice to see you to, but its Alkaid while i'm on duty. Every Protector goes by their wave spirit's name when they are on duty. So whats your new name eh?"

Naruto frowned for a moment before responding. "It called itself 'the Kaitou', uh... how much do I need to pay for those?"

Ten-ten smiled at him as she wrapped the daggers up in a package along with whetstones and other tools to maintain them. "Kaitou? Thats in the old tongue... so... how bout you just go by Kite? And its free you idiot, protectors are supplied their starting equipment by the City. Now the two of you need to get out of my shop before mister 'azure sea's' fangirls find out he's here and mob my store."

Sasuke sighed and nodded "alright, thanks for the help Alkaid."

some time later Naruto found himself in a field, daggers at his side in there harness, with Sasuke explaining the basics of monster wrangling. Or, "battling" as the Uchiha called it.

"Ok, Kite, we passed through the chaos gate in town and we've been teleported to a local field. This one is used to train by new protectors so the enemies here will be fairly weak."

the raven haired boy turned and pointed to a gold colored glyph suspended in the air.

"thats a portal, its how creatures of the cursed wave get into our world. If you get near one, enemies will attack you from it."

Sasuke paused and looked his friend over before continuing.

"Why don't you approach that portal and try out your new daggers, your wave spirit will give you an instinctive skill with them that overtime will let you learn to perform magic techniques through them."

Naruto stared at his friend with a look of utter shock, "you want me to what?"

Sasuke smirked, "Just do it dobe... or a you afraid, scaredie-cat?"

Naruto frowned and ran at the portal which shattered in a shower of golden sparks to reveal a tiny humanoid creature with gray skin and poor fitting armor. The creature made a rather comical war-cry and rushed at him flailing its fists in the air. Naruto sidestepped it and drew his daggers, spinning them into a revesed grip with startling ease. He stepped forward into the poor creatures exposed flank and drove a dagger into its head. He blinked as the events sank in, before he turned to Sasuke with a loopsided grin.

"heh that was easy! Come on Orca give me something harder."

Sasuke shook his head in bemusement and then turned to point to an old ruin nearby. "Well then, lets check down there. Ruins like that attract monsters and they also usually have some good magical equipment in them. How about it... Kite?"

Naruto nodded his head and adjusted his simple green hat. "Yeah... lets do it."

After two hours of battling, Naruto was convinced this might not be so bad after all. Beside him Sasuke was talking about some mission he and his brother had been on when the ground shook beneath them and they both nearly doubled over from severe vertigo from an odd grating sound that pierced the silence of the hallway. They both stumbled forward as the world twisted around them into a hellish landscape of floating chunks of rock suspended in air.

Naruto staggered backward, eyes wide with confusion and fear. "What... what is this..."

Sasuke frowned seemingly lost in thought, "... or … were the rumors true?"

suddenly the air wavered again, and a girl with iridescent white hair floating above the ground faded into view before them.

"_Take this" _the air infront of ther girl twisted to reveal a leather-bound tome. Naruto's eyes widened as he recognized the book from the store earlier that day.

Sasuke stepped forward "are you..."

she spoke, her voice soft but urgent as the book floated to him "_there's no time, please... take this" _the girl pleaded as if panicked.

Sasuke nodded slightly before turning slightly to take the tome from the girl, "But, why are you..."

the girl turned to look up at the sky and interrupted him before he could go further, a look of fear and terror in her eyes. She began to fade away from view as she urgently pleaded with them. "_he's here, please you must leave!_"

as the girl vanished, a wholly different and more evil creature faded into view in the air above them. Seemingly made of stone, or perhaps a dark gray hide, its odd disconnected body parts floated in a cluster of vaguely humanoid shape. It lowered itself to the ground and pointed threateningly at the two boys. Sasuke threw the tome into Naruto's hands before rushing forward, "Go! Get out of here! I'll hold it off!"

Sasuke blurred into a rapid flurry of strikes to the creature, Naruto watched in surprise and awe, he had never known that his friend had such fighting power. However, Naruto paled when he heard Sasuke yell in frustration. "What the... Why wont anything work"

the creature backhanded Sasuke away, and then raised its left arm towards him. The boy's arms were thrown back as if grabbed from behind, while a ring of strange patterns of light shown around the creature's arm. Then a strange beam lanced from the outstretched had to the trapped Sasuke, who screamed in shock and pain, before colapsing to the ground. Ignoring the danger Naruto rushed forward, skidding across the ground as he fell to his knees next to his friend. "Sa-sasuke!"

Sasuke turned to the voice with hollow glassy eyes and forced out a ragged, "Im sorry..." before colapsing into unconsciousness. Naruto looked up to see the creature with its hand raised and pointed towards him... and then, his world went black.

-)::(-

When he awoke he was back in Mac Anu, and was informed by the medics that Sasuke had fallen into a coma from his wave spirit being forcably removed, a process that was often fatal. He found himself wandering the square around the glowing ring of the Chaos Gate, wanting to go train to get stronger, but unsure were to start, or even how. He was startled from his panicked brooding when a angry female voice lashed out at him from behind.

"Hey! Im talking to you ya know! Its rude to ignore people!"

Naruto spun around to come face to face with Hinata, her hair ragged and white from the flow of her wave power. He stared at her in surprise he still hadn't really wrapped his head around the effect her wave spirit had on her personality. He blinked and the hastily responded, "Oh... uh hey... what do you need?"

the girl smirked at him and leaned back on her zweihander, a rather pleased look on her face, "I was asking if you'd like to go train for a while, I know an interesting area we can go to, how bout it?"

Naruto nodded dumbly as she grabbed his arm and dragged him to the Chaos gate. "The keyword is Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground"

-)::(-

as the world righted itself as they appeared from the warp rings Naruto stared in surprise, he recognized the location from picture's his father had of his youth, rising ahead of them was the imposing facade of the Hulle Granz Cathedral. Beside him he heard a gasp and Hinata in a much more timid voice than before say "ano... I guess we should go inside."

he nodded leading the way up the stairwells and through the doors to the chapel inside. They walked up the aisle slowly, stunned by the buildings vaulted interior. He was startled when he heard Hinata scream from nearby, and turned to face the threat, acting without thinking, the goblin was soon dead on the floor and dissolving into dust. When he turned to talk to her she was already down at the altar leaning on it to support her weight. As he approached her she looked at him with sad white eyes, "Gomen Naruto-kun, I-Im so new at this I cant control my wave poweres."

Naruto waved her off with a lopsided grin "eh, you're just new to this... we both are, we'll both get stronger I know it." he paused as he noticed something about the altar. "hey, the statue on this thing, Its of that Girl I saw"

Hinata turned and looked at him in shock, "You... you saw the goddess Aura?"

Naruto nodded absently, "I wonder why the statue is chained up. Hey! There's something written down here on the plinth. 'Skeith, Innus, Magus, uhm I cant make out the rest, its faded from wear."

before Naruto could talk further or Hinata respond the doors to the cathedral were thrown open behind them and they spun to see what had come inside. A young man in steel armor was running up the aisle towards them, yelling at them in obvious agitation "Leave at once"

Hinata, now back in Blackrose guise glared at him "What the hell is you problem?"

the man, who Naruto couldn't help but think was familiar somehow gestured to the door "Im telling you to get out!"

Hinata looked ready to yell back, when a creature suddenly appeared from thin air. It seemed to be a large suit of armor, wielding an ax in one hand and holding a skull under its other arm. The stranger turned and jumped revealing a pair of wings on his back. He landed next to the two young warriors as the creature fell to the ground. Naruto was about to cheer when suddenly the creature stood back up covered in glowing runes. Hinata pointed to it in terror "Wha-what? It should be dead why is it glowing like that?"

the stranger frowned, "its marked by Morganna, it steals wave spirit from the area that allows it to regenerate, its unkillable."

Hinata's eyes darkened, "Then... this is the one..." she suddenly leaped forward towards the creature, the stranger close after her, "Wait! You'll be killed!"

Naruto stared in abject horror, completely unable to figure out what to do, when suddenly, Aura's voice once again reached his ears.

"_The Book! Open the Book!" _

the world around him turned to a white void as out of the air the tome appeared in-front of him, the rune on it glowing brightly. It flew open, pages turning rapidly as runes and letters leaped off the page and onto his body. His clothing faded from green to red and orange. Then, without warning, an unseen force pulled his wrist up and forward as the same ring of light he had seen wielded by that strange creature that had attacked Sasuke formed around his own hand, he screamed out in shock and pain as he felt the strange light pierce the armor and drag something out of it. It collapsed, suddenly dead, the runes shattering off its body like shards of glass.

As the world righted itself he swore he could hear Kaitou laughing "_**So... the daughter is your choice... good, at least you have a chance now... partner"**_


	3. Aura's Gift: Tasogare no Udewa

DN: here we are again in the world of Tasogare, its been some months in coming, but chapter 3 pics up right were we last saw our hero.

as always, I own only this ridiculous crossover Idea.

**Chapter**** 3: ****Gift**** of ****the ****Goddess**** - ****The**** Bracelet ****of**** Twilight****.**

There was no sound in the cathedral; even the faint droning music that had hung in the back of their minds had stopped as Naruto rose, shaking, from the cold stone floor in front of the altar to Aura. He could still see the glowing ring flaring around his arm, though it was now ghostly and translucent, and he could _feel_ the strange throbbing pulse of the energy the bracelet had dragged out of the monster. It was terrifying. He had seen this power destroy his friend when wielded by that strange beast, and now he had dealt the same brutal attack to the monster that had attacked him here. A ragged chill began to drive its way up his spine as the winged knight turned cold black eyes on him. The eyes reminded him of Sasuke, he realized absently, and that made the man's piercing gaze even more withering.

"To think I was saved by someone like you..." the statement held such focused loathing that Naruto staggered backwards into the altar.

"I don't..." the blond haired boy feebly exclaimed trying to compose himself.

"Don't lie to me! I came to the cathedral to hunt down cultist of Morgana who have been unleashing these... creatures onto our lands, and I find _you_, wielding that same dark power." the man stepped forward with deliberate force, drawing his longsword with an echoing ring of steel on steel and leveled it at Naruto's face, "Draw!"

Perhaps it was Kaito's influence deep within him, or the fact that this unknown man kept reminding him of Sasuke throwing a tantrum, but Naruto steadied his stance and waved his hand free of the strange power in front of him in a motion of blatant and possibly suicidal defiance, "No, I won't"

The man took a frenzied half step forward his voice losing its calm venier, "Draw your sword! Now!"

Naruto shook his head and stepped forward, fists clenching in anger "I wont! There's no reason to do that!"

the older warrior's face registered a sudden flash of remorse and pain, "There is for me..."

Before Naruto could respond, or the stranger elaborate, Hinata was suddenly between them, her hair sparking as her lightning spirit's energy boiled just under the surface of her obvious displeasure with the armored man. who, to his credit, back-pedaled away from her, and by extension Naruto, a look of confusion and annoyance etched onto his face. With a venom Naruto had never seen in the young girl before, Hinata almost yelled in the older male's face, "Hey! what's wrong with you? thats no way to treat the guy who saved you!"

The winged man narrowed his eyes at the girl and spat out his responce "You don't understand, Hyuuga"

Hinata was undeterred by the use of her clan name, a clear challenge even Naruto had no trouble recognizing, "You're the one who doesn't understand! he hasn't done anything to you so back off!"

The man paused, as if considering his options for a moment before slowly sheathing his sword with a deliberate and shaking sigh. "Very well then, I will go. But if I find you had anything to do with those monsters," here he turned eyes that were now a piercing swirl of red and black on Naruto, "I will kill you" with that, he turned and walked out of the cathedral the way he had come. In the back of his mind Naruto could here the chanting music begin again as if some unseen choir had guessed the danger had passed. Hinata turned to him with a look of utter exhaustion and gave a faint smile. "Are you ok, Kite?"

Naruto nodded weakly as the rush of Adrenaline that had been pumping through him began to recede, and stumbled forward as the world went black around him

**-)::(-**

Outside, Uchiha Itachi frowned as he marched deliberately away from Hulle Granz before he did something he would regret. it was only the Irksome note of a voice from behind him that stalled his feet, "That was rather childish for Balmung of the Azure Sky, The Decendant of Madara"

He turned, expecting to see the speaker behind him, and saw no one, then he heard a chuckle from above that lead his eyes up to the spires of the cathedral. there, standing on the flat section of roof between the two towering steeples, was a blond-haired woman in ornate white robes. Her heavy helm sat low on her face, hiding her eyes from view, but her mouth was set in a small subtle smile. Itachi frowned and turned his back on the woman, his scowl deepening as he muttered. "I dont speak with spirit-warpers"

The woman's smile disapeared and she spoke in an even and stacatto tone. "That boy. He's a friend of your partner."

Itachi turned, eyes opened slightly in surprise, but the woman was gone. "Of Orca's?" he shook his head and gated away, he would have to consider things more carefully it seemed.

**-)::(-**

Naruto blinked and found himself in a featureless room, a thin layer of water on the floor. the sound of falling drops hitting the surface echoed around him, and a heavy breathing punctuated the silence in between the staccato note of the falling liquid. Turning about in the empty space around him he was relieved by the appearance of a glowing line of red in the shadows. Thinking it to be a light from under a door he took a feeble step forward, but then staggered backwards as it spread outwards into a red glowing eye that was quickly joined by three more. With a rush of noise like a great form shifting, the eyes rose into the air, and, accompanied by the heavy pounding of massive footfalls, the glowing orbs moved towards the dim ring of light in which Naruto now realized he stood. As the eyes passed into the curtain of light, they were revealed to be affixed to a massive head reminiscent of a fox, save for its skeletal appearance, wisps of blue flame silhouetting where ears should be, and an extra set of eyes. the head was followed by a body, long and massive but clearly emaciated, of a white fox with ragged fur that sparked with energy. Its forelimbs slammed down before the boy, paws skeletal like its head, and wreathed in ghostly blue flame. Naruto noted through his amazement and terror that the beast's neck was ringed by a giant version of the ring that now sat on his arm, giving the creature the appearance that it was wearing a giant glowing collar. two of the arms of light the ring sprouted when it was used stretched out over the fox-thing's back and disappeared into the darkness that its hindquarters still sat obscured within. It tilted its head to stare at Naruto with lidless red eyes and spoke in a voice Naruto recognized with a sudden chill, **"****So****, ****the**** Keeper**** has**** come**** to ****meet**** with ****me**** at**** last****. ****Boy****, ****can**** you ****not ****wield ****The ****Daughter****'****s**** blessing ****without ****falling ****unconscious****? ****You ****are ****truly**** a ****pitiful**** little**** creature****."**

Naruto stared at Kaito for some time, his face reflected in the crimson of the beast's massive eyes, until after what had seemed like an eternity the young twin blade was able to speak, "What... are you?"

Kaito's massive form dropped to the ground before naruto like a dog that had decided to lay at its master's feet, its huge skull-like head nestled on its flame wreathed paws, "**I ****Am**** the ****hidden ****one****, ****guardian**** of**** the**** Twilight ****Dragon****... ****or ****I**** was****, ****thriteen ****years ****ago****.**"

Naruto blinked, "Was? what happened? did you get fired?"

the fox like creature leaned forward to place its snout near the boy's face and snorted loudly, a blast of blue spirit like flame buffeting naruto's face "**I**** was ****bound ****to ****you****. ****That ****is ****all ****you ****need ****to ****know****.**" the creature raised its body to stand over Naruto and glared down at him, "**It****'****s**** time**** for ****you ****to ****leave ****here**** boy****... ****take**** care ****of ****the ****Tasogare**** no ****Udewa****, ****Naruto ****no ****Kaitou**" Naruto suddenly gasped as the sensation of being hurled backwards thrust through his body and mind before he blacked out a second time.

**-)::(-**

he awoke to the relieved gasp oh Hinata, and to her face, etched in concern hovering of him. her eyes showed clearly her worry and panic, though the second faded quickly as Naruto righted himself. "Black-rose? what happened?"

Hinata either did not notice the reference to her alternate persona, or simply ignored it, and frowned as she continued to fuss over him, "After that rude man left you passed out suddenly. I was worried he had done something to you until you woke up just now. Im glad your ok." She grabbed him in a sudden hug. Naruto sat for a few moments before he reached out to return the gesture. A few short second later Hinata's more shy persona regained the forfront of her mind and she sqeeked and pulled away her face a bright red.

Before either could speak further the doors of Hulle Granz flew open and a squad of Protectors burst into the catherdal weapons at the ready. Naruto's eyes widened as he recognized the three as some of the veteran Protectors that had helped him as he grew up. The first through the door was a man in tribal face paint with a simple longsword glowing with wind energy who Naruto recognized as Asuma, the old Sarutobi's son. A well known blademaster and wind wave user, Asuma had often helped Naruto as a small child with school work, as the boy was often seen around the Sarutobi household in his early years before he had been given his own place at age ten. The second one Naruto became aware of was a man holding a large lance on his shoulder while he posed dramatically in the aisle, his bright green armor that was polished to an almost chrome like shine giving him away as the eccentric Maito Gai. The Partisan warrior who often referred to himself as "Mac Anu's Green Beast" was the one who had taught naruto self-defence when it was realized the boy would be living on his own. Lastly Naruto's eyes caught sight of the man who had been his unofficial guardian since he had been a toddler. Hatake Kakashi stood between the other two Protectors, the black steel blade of the Kubikiri Hanchou arcing with his massive Lightning wave power.

Kakashi's eyes scanned the cathedral before he caught sight of the two and rushed over in shock and concern. "You two are alive after all? thank Kami!" the silver haired Jounin ranked protector said as he reached the altar. "Are the two of you alright? we recieved a report that the … thing that attacked you and sasuke had attacked Hulle Granz and killed all of the priests. Itachi was sent in first, but he never reported back, and the sensor units at Mac Anu detected a massive power surge here, so we were sent to investigate. On top of that, Hiashi told us that he feared Hinata had come here talking you with her, Naruto." we were afraid you both had been killed, or rendered comatose like Sasuke."

Naruto shook his head, a slightly confused look on his face, "No Sensei... the Cathedral was empty when we got here... until a strange monster ogre appeared anyway. But we never saw that... Thing."

Kakashi frowned, staring at Naruto's arm, were the Bracelet was still glowing faintly. Just as the grey haired protector was about to ask what it was, it vanished in a pulse of light. desiding it best to leave that discussion for later, he turned to the two young protectors, offering a hand to each to help them stand, "Come on, Lets get back to Mac Anu"


End file.
